Improvement in nail-driving machines



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w s. WATSON. Nail-Driving Machines.

Patented Jan. 1'2, 1875.-

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3 Sheets-'-Sheet 2 w. s. WATSON. Nail-Driving Machines;

Patented Jan. 12, 1875.

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- 3'Sheets--Sheet3. W. S. WATSON. Nan -Driving Machines. No. 158,763.Patentedlan.12 ,1.8 75,

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"attaching the soles of boots and shoes.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER s. WATSON, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN NAIL-DRIVING MACHINES.

Specficaition formingpart of Letters Patent No. l 58,763, dated January12, 1875; application filed January 7, 1875.

to be used-in connection with a proper separating'machine, whichseparates and delivers. loose nails; my improvements relating tomechanism for using loose nails, as distinguished from those whichemploy a strip or comb, from which the nails are severed as they aredriven.

My present improvements relate to means for enabling two sizes of cut orloose nails to be driven in the Same machine, and to enable either sizeto be driven as occasion requires, or the machine to be adaptedinstantly to one or the other size. Details by which I carry out myobject, and which constitute part of the invention, will be dulyexplained.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1', afront elevation, in Fig. 2 a Side elevation, and in Fig. 3 a plan, of amachine embodying my improvements.

These drawings represent at A the frame of the machine, as composed inthe main of a horizontal table or base-plate, A, mounted upon apedestal,B, and provided with upright standards 0 D. Within the upper face of theplate A I create a well, E, to receive a circular disk or wheel, F,which is capable of rotating within such well, and in the periphery ofthisdisk I create a series of upright grooves or pockets, G; G, &c., innumber and disposition as hereinafter stated, these pockets being ofsuch size and length as to easily receive each a nail, such as isemployed represents a hole or passage bored through the front part ofthe table A, whichconsticoincide with it; and over this said passage,and in axial alignment with it, I dlspose a driver-bar, I, which isalong vertical rod playing loosely within a tubular guide or sheath, J,placed over the wheels F, and supported by the table A and the standard0, the driverbar serving to drive from such one-of the pockets as may becoincident with it the nail contained therein, and force such naildownward into the soleof a shoe placed be.- low such table.

I have represented at K a jack for receiving and supporting a boot orshoe while a nail is being driven into itssole, this jack being of anysuitable construction, and requiring no especial description, since initself it constitutes no part of my present invention.

As everyother pocket G, say those marked 2 2, &c., is to contain a;short nail, and the intermediate pockets 1.1, &c., long nails,. it

becomes necessary to provide mechanisnrfor feeding the wheel F alongintermediately in the table A, and driven in reciprocatingrectilinear-movementsxby a crank or other suitable motor. 7 The upper(log, 0, is on a plane with the upper ratchet-wheel, N,and so as toengage its teeth, and the lower dog, P, placed in a like relation to-thelower ratchet-wheel, M, the last-named dog being fulcrumed at about itsmiddle to the carriage, as shown at R,while the upper dog, 0, is pivotedat its rear end to such carriage, as shown at S, and is also. pivoted tothe lower dog, 1?, at a point somewhat,

in advance of the pivot S, by a pivot, T. A yoke or two-armed lever, U,is fulcrumedat its center to the carriage Q, somewhat in rear of thepivot S, and its two arms a b are connected with opposite sides, oftherear end of the lower dog, I, in such manner that when the lever U isturned to one side, obliquely ot' the plane of the, carriage Q, theupper dog is thrown into engagement with the upper ratchet, and thelower (log is removed from contact with the lower ratchet, and viceversa when the inclination or position of the lever is reversed. Thecarriage Q is to have imparted to it, by any suitable means,reciprocating alternations in a right line, these movements beingtimedto the length of the teeth of the ratchet-wheels, in order, with eachreciprocation, to rotate the latter to the extent of one tooth of suchwheels. The driver I is lowered by the stress of a coiled spring, whichencircles it, and is contained within the tube or sheath J; and suchdriver is elevated by a wiper-cam, V, which is affixed to the outer endof a short horizontal shaft, W, supported by a box or bracket, X,affixed to the standard 0, said cam wiping against a stud, Y, projectinglaterally from the rear side of the driver. The shaft W is rotated bymeans of a gear, a,"

'aflixed to its rear end, which engages a second gear, 0 of doublediameter or number of teeth, affixed to the outer end of a longhorizontal shaft, (1, which is supported in the upper part of thestandards (3 D, and is provided-with a pulley, e, for rotating it. f, g,h,

and i represent a series of upright tubes or chutes to guide the nailsin theirdescent into the pockets G, and these tubes are to be connectedwith any suitable nail distributing mechanism, by which they are to besupplied with'nails. Two alternate tubessayf and g--are to contain longnails, and the other two short nails and my purpose in employing twopairs of tubes is to insure at all times a sufficient supply of nails tothe pockets G, which one distributing-machine to a pair may'notaccomplish. My object, also, in multiplying the gearc by the gear 0 isto drive the driver-- bar rapidly and enable the machine to accomplish alarge amount of work. Immediately in rear of the ratchet-wheels M N, Ierect upon the table A a preliminary receiver composed of a block, k,(shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and detached in Fig. 4,) in which arecreated four vertical holes, l m n 0, which coincide with the tubes fghi before named, the

holes serving to receive the nails as they are precipitated from thedistributing-machine, and prior to their entrance into the pockets G. Inorder to retain these nails in said pockets until they are driven thenceby means hereinafter stated, I apply to the lower part of each tube aspring, 12, which enters each hole, I, m, n, or o, by an aperture in therear face of block it, as seen in Fig. 4, and presses against the nailtherein, while, in order to drive from each hole the nail that may be init, I employ two pairs of upright plungers, q q and r 0", which aredisposed immediately over such holes and depend from carriers or blocks.8 it, each of which, in turn, is supported by and attached to the lowerend of an upright bar, a or '0, which is capable of sliding verticallywithin a bearing or standard, as, making part of the standard 0 of the machine-frame, eachcarrier s or t and its pair of plungers being elevatedby a coiled spring, a. or b, and lowered by a beam, 0 or d, the inner ofwhich rests upon the top of each bar, u or wand whose outer end ispivoted to a post, 0 or f, erected upon the table A. One or the other ofthe beams c or d is lowered by a stud, g, projecting later ally from theend of a crank or arm, h, which projects from the outer end of a tubularslide or sleeve, 2', which encompasses the shaft (1 before named, and ispermitted to slide longitudinally, but not rotate upon the latter, by asuitable pin-and-slot connection.

The two sets or pairs of plungers are so arranged, with respect to thedisk or wheel F, that one pair enters the one set of pockets, or thosecontaining the short nails, and the other pair 0 plungers those pocketscontaining the long nails; and as it is requisite that but one pair ofplungers shall be in operation at the saine'time, I have arranged thecrank or arm h to act upon but one at a time, and provided a mechanismby which this arm may be shifted from one to the other of the beams c ord, which mechanism consists of a furcated wedge, l, pivoted to the upperend of a bent lever, m, which makes part of a thimble, n, encompassin ga horizontal rock-shaft, 0, which is mounted within thelower part of thetwo standards 0 D, the rear end of this rock-shaft being provided withan arm, 2, for convenience of shifting its position. When the wedge L isat its lowest position the stud g of the arm h coincides with the beam0, and, when the shaft (1 is rotated, will wipe against and lower suchbeam. When the wedge is at its highest position, where it is forced, byrocking the shaft 0, to the left to the extent of about half a circle,the arm h is forced rearward to such an extent that its stud g coincideswith, and when lowered will wipe against, the beam (1, the sleeve 11being pressed toward or maintained against the wedge by a coiled spring,q. The connection between the thimble or sleeve a and the rock-shaft 0is a stud affixed to the latter, which abuts against a sectoral studmaking part of the end of said thimble.

I would here call attention to the fact that the arm 1) is of a lengthsuflicient, when changed from one to the other of its lowest andoperative positions, to intercept the adjacent end or arm of theoscillating lever U and shift the same, and reverse. the position of thedogs N O. I would also call attention to the fact that the pockets ofthe wheel F, which operate in connect-ion with the plungers q q andblocks s, are marked 2 2 in the drawing.

The operation of this machine is as follows: Presuming as astarting-point that the wedge Z is at its highest point and the dog I inengagement with the lower ratchet-wheel, M, the stud of the arm hresting upon and ready to depress the beam (1 and the driver-bar I atits lowest position, with the wiper-camV about to raise it, the properseries of holes 1 or 2 being immediately below the plnngers, which areactuated by the said, bar d, and the two dogs and their carriage beingat their extreme rearward positio'n'-'-the driving-shaft d is put inrevolution in the'direction of the arrow on its pulley, and the arm hdepresses the beam d, and consequently the two plungers, the result'ofwhich is that such plungers enter the orifices in the receiver or blockbelow them,

and drive therefrom and in to each of two alternate pockets, 1 1 or 2 2,of the wheel F a nail from'such receiver. Simultaneously with thisdescent of the two plungers the wiper-cam has raised the driver I to itshighest-point, and as the arm h passes by the beam (1, and allows it andits plunger to rise to their highest po sition, the apex or point of thewiper-cam passes from beneath the stud of the driver, and permits thelatter to descend and drive from the pocket belowit the nail that iswithin such pocket, this nail, upon the fulldescent of the driver, beingdriven into the sole of the boot below.

While the arm h is-traveling through the half-circle, which-is necessarybefore it again reaches and wipes against the beam d, the wiper L-hascompleted an entire revolution,

owing to the differential gears c and 0 as 7.

this double movement of the driver is requisite to expel the 'two nailsdelivered to the wheel at each descent of the pair of plun'gers.

The mechanism which reciprocates the carriage and its dogs is so timed,with respect to the stationsof the shaft 1" and movements of the driver,that, during each ascent of the latter, the carriage advances, and itsdog advances the wheel with which it may be in con- "tact the extentofonepocket, and so that when the driver .descendsit shall expel from thepocket beneath it the nail that is therein.

My object in adding pairs of guide-tubes and plungers, 'asbeforepremised, is to insure at all times a 'suflicient supply of nailsto till the pockets in the presenting-wheel F, as'I have found it amatter of difliculty. to obtain a separating-machine which will singlysupply my machine, when driven rapidly, with a proper number of nails. I

Should it be desirable to'change thesize of nail which the machine isdriving, I have only to change the position of the arm'ordog p from oneside of the carriage Q to the other, as'this act eflects nearly arevolution of the rock-shaft o, reverses the position of the dogs 0 andP, throws the lower dog,.]?, out of engagement with the ratchet M, andbrings the upper. dog into engagement with the upper. ratchet, N, andlowers the wedge l, and permits the arm h to move outward over the beam0 A rotation of the driving-shaft now actuates the beam 0, plungers q q,and driver I in precisely the same manner as the beam, plungers, anddriver were at first operated, and as will be readily understood.

' I claim- 1. The combination of the presenting-wheel F and two or moreguides or chutes, for directing two loose nails at a time to such wheel.

2. The combination, in a machine for presenting and dividing two sizesof loose or separate nails, of a wheel or its equivalent-for receivingand presenting nails, one or more pairsor sets of guides or tubes todirect such nails to the wheel, and a driver to drive the nails from thewheel into the sole of a boot or shoe, all being arranged and operatingsubstantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the wheel F or its substitute, one or more pairsor sets of guide by the size' of nail is changed, substantially as shownand set forth.

4. The combination of'the pocketed wheel F, driver I, anddually-arranged nail'guides and plungers with a jack for supporting aboot or shoe, substantially as set forth. j 5. The combination, with therotating pocketed wheel F and dually-arranged nail-guides and plungers,of a driver actuated in such manner as to execute two descents to onedescent of the plungers, substantially as set forth.

6. lhe combination, with the wheel F, of the two ratchets M and N andthe dogs 0 P, the latter operating alternately upon the wheels, andbeing actuated or shifted by the arm 11 and intermediate mechanism, orthe substantial equivalent thereof, essentially as and for the purposedescribed.

7. The detailed mechanism herein explained for shifting the position ofthe arm h, consisting of the furcated wedge l, bent lever n, and arm 10,the two latter being carried by the shaft 0, and the whole operatingsubstantially as set forth.

8. The combination of one or more pairs of guide tubes or chutes with aseries of nail-receiving pockets in a presenting-wheel, under such anarrangement that two pockets are provided for each' pair of guide-tubes,substantially as set forth.

'9. The combination of a nail receiving and presenting'wheel, providedwith two series of receiving and presenting receptacles, with feedmechanisms for presenting the nails of either series, substantially asset forth.

' WALTER S. -WATSON. Witnesses:

ALBION KNowL'roN, J AmsKNowL'roN.

